Mounds of elongate
lava pillows formed by repeated oozing and quenching of hot
basalt. First, a flexible glassy
crust forms around the newly extruded
lava, forming an expanded pillow. Next, pressure builds until the crust breaks and new basalt extrudes like toothpaste, forming another pillow. This sequence continues until a thick sequence may be deposited. When geologists find pillow
basalts in ancient rock sequences, they may conclude that the area was once under water.